Action 52
Some of the content was taken from Wikipedia and the Action 52 wiki so this is considered as a credit. This is also the first page on this wiki. Action 52 is an unlicensed multicart video game compilation developed by Active Enterprises for the Nintendo Entertainment System, and FarSight Technologies for the Sega Genesis. The NES version was released in 1991, followed by the Genesis version in 1993. A Super NES version was advertised in magazines, but never released. Action 52 consists of 52 "New and Original" games that cover a variety of genres, with the most common being scrolling shooters and platformers. One of the more notable games is The Cheetahmen, Active's attempt at creating a franchise similar to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The NES version of Action 52 became notorious among gamers for the poor quality and functionality of its games, and is often considered to be one of the worst games of all time. The Genesis version is widely considered superior, though still of subpar quality. Many video game collectors value Action 52 for its notoriety and rarity, as it initially retailed for the comparatively high price of US$199, or "less than $4 for each game". Story/Development Little is known about the creator of Action 52 besides his name which is Vince Perri. Perri claims to be a businessman from Miami, Florida and the owner and founder of Active Enterprises. He also explains that the breakthrough came by accident; "I happened to see my son playing an illegal product made in Taiwan that had 40 games on it. The whole neighborhood went crazy over it", Perri said. "I figured I'd do it legally. It's obvious when you see something like that, you know there's something there".In 1993, he showcased Action 52 at the International Winter Consumer Electronics Show. For the NES version, Perri raised $20 million from private backers in Europe, South America and Saudi Arabia. He and Raul Gomila employed three college students (Mario Gonzalez, Javier Perez and Albert Hernandez) to do the game design, music, graphics and programming on an Atari ST, with a three-month deadline and little playtesting or bugfixing done. Technical work was contracted out to Cronos Engineering, Inc., a Boca Raton company that had done work for IBM. According to Gonzalez, the game has been misrepresented as a "scam" in the gaming press; he clarifies that Perri never intended for the game to be a scam, at least at first, and believed it was a genuinely good business venture after seeing his neighborhood become entranced by his son's Taiwanese multicart. However, it was Perri's overconfidence and lack of gaming business savvy that led to the project's downfall, by hiring inexperienced programmers and giving them such a short deadline without knowing how long games typically took to make, and thinking such a poor quality product would be able to make him rich via the Cheetahmen franchise. Action 52 has eight extra game templates, since the distributor had the carts come with 60 games by default, as well as many unused tiles; this has been confirmed in an interview with Gonzalez. Also, according to Gonzalez, the development team was flown to Sculptured Software to develop the game. While Mario does not remember the name of the game company, he recalls them both being based in Salt Lake City, Utah, and the company was developing an NES adaptation of Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back. This, along with the game using Sculptured Software's sound engine, proves that the game was developed at Sculptured Software, but not by Sculptured Software staff. Several of the songs from the NES version of Action 52 were plagiarized from example tunes included in Activision's The Music Studio for the Atari ST. The games with plagiarized music include Fuzz Power, Silver Sword, French Baker, Streemerz, Time Warp Tickers and Ninja Assault. Those songs were composed by Ed Bogas. Additionally, programmer Kevin Horton analyzed the music code of Action 52 and found that it matched a music engine programmed by Sculptured Software,featured in all of their NES games. The Sega Genesis version, released two years later, was developed by FarSight Technologies on a Macintosh LC over the course of a year, under the direction of Jay Obernolte.This version contained far fewer glitches than the NES version, due to FarSight having experienced programmers and pressuring Active into playtesting the game before release. Perez and Hernandez were again involved in the development of this version but Gonzalez had departed from the team at this point to spend more time with his girlfriend. Music for this version was contracted out to Mark Steven Miller and Jason Scher of Nu Romantic Productions. FarSight was also set to develop a version of Action 52 for the Super NES, as well as another multicart titled Sports 5, but Active Enterprises withdrew from the video game industry shortly thereafter, and no copies of either game are known to exist. Games(NES) # Fire Breathers(The single game where you need 2 players to play) # Star Evil(One of the first shooters in the cart and it has an obstacle,RIGHT AFTER YOU PRESS START) # Illuminator(Game goes pitch black for a few seconds,in order to kill vampires) # G-Force Fighters(Another shooter) # Ooze(One of the games with normal title screen) # Silver Sword(A lot of green there) # Critical Bypass(Horrible background) # Jupiter Scope(A shooter,where you can do nothing BECAUSE NOTHING MATTERS IN THIS GAME) # Alfredo and the Fetucini's(The game DOESN'T WORK on some cartridges) # Operation Full Moon(A lot of turquiose there) # Dam Busters(You can't go back,like Super Mario Bros,but sometimes you need to,AND YOU CAN'T!) # Thrusters # Haunted Halls of Wentworth(More like Ms. Thicc Woman in a hall with ghosts and monsters) # Chill Out(Falling damage...) # Sharks(A shitty version of Jaws) # Megalonia # French Baker # Atmos Quake # Meong(A shitty Minesweeper thingy) # Space Dreams # Streemerz # Spread Fire # Bubble Gum Rosie(The game with no rules) # Micro Mike(More like Mike The Speedster) # Underground # Rocket Jockey # Non-Human(Clearly a Non-Human made game) # Cry Baby # Slashers(You may think this is a horror game,but no,it's a shitty version of Double Dragon) # Crazy Shuffle(The character and enemies are TOO SMALL) # Fuzz Power # Shooting Gallery # Lollipops # Evil Empire # Sombreros # Storm Over the Desert(The game where you are invincible.Oh,Saddam Hussein is there!) # Mash Man # They Came... # Lazer League # Billy-Bob(A crappy Indiana Jones knock-off) # City of Doom # Bits and Pieces # Beeps and Blips # Manchester Beat # Boss # Dedant # Hambo's Adventures # Time Warp Tickers(The weirdest game ever) # Jigsaw(Like Alfredo and the Fetucini's,it doesnt work on some cartridges) # Ninja Assault # Robbie and the Robots # Cheetahmen(The main attraction) Games(Genesis) # Go Bonkers! # Darksyne # Dyno Tennis # Ooze # Star Ball # Sidewinder # Daytona # 15 Puzzle # Sketch # Star Duel # Haunted Hill # Alfredo # Cheetahmen # Skirmish # Depth Charge # Mind's Eye # Alien Attack # Billy Bob # Sharks # Knockout # Intruder # Echo # Freeway # Mousetrap # Ninja # Slalom # Dauntless # Force One # Spidey # Appleseed # Skater # Sunday Drive # Star Evil # Air Command # Shootout # Bombs Away # Speed Boat # Dead Ant # G Fighter # Man at Arms # Norman # Armor Battle # Magic Bean # Apache # Paratrooper # Sky Avenger # Sharpshooter # Meteor # Black Hole # The Boss # 1st Video Game # Challenge Why It's Shit(NES Version) * Some games aren't even finished *Crappy graphics *Weird titles and genres *In some games you must use B...for jumping! *The game must be with action games but many of them are shooter games Why It's Shit(Cheetahmen NES) * Reused graphics * Glitches * Same poor controls(jump with B) Why It's Shit(Genesis) * Lots of puzzle games * The similar game to Storm Over the Desert is 'the opposite'.In this one,of you touch something,you die. * No plot to Cheetahmen this time * The 1st Video Game is Pong,which isn't true because the first game was Tennis For Two * Challenge isnt a game.Its a 'test' * In Freeway,when you die,the dog will rot in a gory way * Some games are too easy The Only Good Things * Music is ok Videos Category:NES/Famicom Games Category:Genesis/Mega Drive Games